Congrats, Class of 2010!

Grads Ready to Change the World

They've dug deep to find solutions for global problems, pulled all-nighters for project deadlines, fostered new and enduring friendships — and now they will head out to make their impact on the world.

More than 3,500 undergrad and grad students will receive their hard-earned degrees from Carnegie Mellon this weekend at the university's 113th commencement. Can't make it to the ceremony? Watch the live broadcast and join the conversation on Twitter.

Recognized for outstanding leadership and selfless dedication, Ian G. Rawson, managing director of Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) in Deschapelles, Haiti, is expected to inspire everyone in attendance with his keynote address. (Read more about Rawson.)

Leslie McAhren (A'10), who will receive a master's degree in fine arts, will bring her background in art, business and chemistry to her commencement speech titled "You, Me and Lifelong Ascent." Her speech will champion a multidisciplinary approach as a way to reach one's full potential. McAhren is from Albuquerque, N.M. She received her bachelor's degree from Rice University. (Watch video of McAhren.)

This year, Carnegie Mellon will award honorary degrees to:

Gordon Bell, Doctor of Science and Technology. Bell is revered as part of the startup faculty of Carnegie Mellon's Computer Science Department, where he was a professor of computer science and engineering from 1966 to 1972. He's the father of the minicomputer and a world-renowned pioneer in high-performance and parallel computing, a principal researcher at Microsoft's Silicon Valley Laboratory, and for the last decade has been researching digitally storing a person's life.
Robert H. Dennard, Doctor of Science and Technology. Dennard, who earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon in 1958, is renowned as the inventor in 1967 of the one-transistor dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cell for IBM — the global standard for low-cost digital memory used universally in computers and other data processing and communication systems today.
Barbara Luderowski, Doctor of Fine Arts. Luderowski has made immense contributions to the arts community in the region as well as to the redevelopment of Pittsburgh's North Side neighborhood. Beginning with her purchase of a vacant mattress warehouse in the Mexican War Streets area in 1975, Luderowski has created today's multi-building Mattress Factory, a highly regarded museum of contemporary installation art with a world-renowned artists residency program.
James H. Simons, Doctor of Business Practice. Simons is chairman of the board of Renaissance Technologies, the exclusively quantitative, highly successful investment firm he founded in 1982, and served as CEO until 2009. He is also chairman and founder of the nonprofit Math for America, which he, together with a group of others in the financial industry, established in 2004 to improve math education in the nation's public high schools.

Learn more about Gordon Bell, Robert H. Dennard, Barbara Luderowski and James H. Simons. Video of the ceremony will be available at Carnegie Mellon on YouTube and Carnegie Mellon on iTunes U following the events.

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